Jeff Ruzal, an attorney representing employers, disagrees. "What is new, really, is the tag line. And that's what the DOL is pushing. And that tag line is, 'most workers are employees,'" he says.

Ruzal says he's advising clients to audit their contractor base and either make adjustments to payrolls or shorten contracts. Another concern is that labor activists and employees will use these new guidelines to go after deep-pocketed businesses.